First for the good news: Managing partners’ overall confidence in the economy was up 18 points between the third and fourth quarters of 2012, and 85 percent predicted future revenue growth, according to the latest Law Watch Managing Partner Confidence Index survey from Citi Private Bank.

But almost half of the 76 managing partners surveyed are concerned that clients will continue to push for discounted fees. Forty-three percent of managing partners predicted that discounting would increase modestly, while 51 percent said that discounting pressure would remain unchanged (none of those surveyed predicted that discounts would decrease).

The partners also anticipate rising expenses, with 72 percent of respondents saying that they expect some growth in the category. Only 8 percent of managing partners foresee any decrease in expenses, and none see a drop of more than 5 percent.